Facebook Messenger now has more than 1.2 billion monthly users

It was in 2014, Facebook took the decision to separate Messenger as a standalone app.This invited apprehensions from all quarters but Mark Zuckerberg proved every one wrong with Facebook Messenger. Adding to the list of milestones achieved Facebook Messenger now has more than 1.2 billion monthly users, i.e. addition of 200 million new users in the last eight months.

Anand Chandrasekaran, Director, Facebook said, “On behalf of the entire Messenger team, we’d like to thank our growing community of more than 1.2 billion people who use Messenger every month. We’re grateful that you continue to use Messenger to stay in touch with the people and businesses that matter to you most.”

Ever since Facebook turned its messaging feature into the standalone Messenger app,it has been adding something new. Facebook launched M suggestions, group payments, and Messenger Day, in the past few weeks itself.

Messenger Lite ,which is lighter the version of the app launched last fall for slower connections and older phones, as well as the rapid expansion of new features has been a contributor to this growth.

David Marcus, head of Messaging products at Facebook, also took to Facebook to celebrate the milestone. “I keep on hearing powerful stories about how our product is becoming a more important part of your daily lives. So from all of us here at Messenger, a heartfelt thank you.”

Another important here is that this milestone comes just a week ahead of the company’s F8 developer conference, where the social networking giant is expected to introduce many new updates for the platform.